A Stranger's Kiss
by darkestboy
Summary: When the Doctor and Rose find themselves imprisoned on a spaceship, a mysterious woman comes to their aid while making sure they're unaware of her identity. Set between The Long Game and Father's Day.


**Name: **A Stranger's Kiss  
**Characters: **9th Doctor, Rose Tyler, River Song, Original Characters.  
**Synopsis:** When the Doctor and Rose find themselves imprisoned on a spaceship, a mysterious woman comes to their aid while making sure they're unaware of her identity. Set between _The Long Game_ and _Father's Day_.

There were a lot of things Rose Tyler enjoyed as a result of travelling with the Doctor but at the same time, she had quickly learned there were also a few things that she was less fond of as well and one of them happened to be getting captured. This was something that happened every once in a while and was also something that was happening right now for her.

"Oi, get your hands off me," Rose protested huffily as a burly orange and violet tinted alien dressed as a security guard had gripped her right arm so tightly, she thought he was going to break it.

"Shut up, you stupid girl," the alien hissed at her with contempt as he dragged her out into an open enough area and shouted at her. "I know you're not alone. Where is he?"

"I don't know who you're talking about," Rose smiled defiantly as she chose to deliberately play dumb. "I'm just a stowaway myself."

"And I'm Lord Nelson of the Faruch nebula and counting," the alien retorted impatiently. "This ship isn't very large my dear and we're not docking anywhere just yet. We'll find your friend one way or another."

"Good luck with that then," Rose said dryly but her voiced was tinted with worry and she had a horrible feeling the alien holding onto her could tell that as well. "I'm not travelling with anyone."

Unfortunately for Rose, she didn't have to worry about whether or not her captor believed her because another one his kind, only this time with orange and dark blue tinted skin was dragging the Doctor along with him as well.

"Oi, watch the coat," the Doctor huffed in annoyance as he smiled at seeing Rose. "Oh, look, trouble's here."

"Glad to see you too," Rose said as her attempts to make contact with the Doctor were prohibited by both aliens holding onto them. "Though I was hoping that you'd give them the element of surprise instead of the other way around."

"You humans lie as easily as you breathe, yet you're not so good at it," the orange and violet skinned alien hissed at Rose. "Now what I am to do with you two?"

"They've probably seen everything, Marach," the orange and blue tinted alien replied in return as he tugged on the Doctor's arm for extra emphasis. "And this one is serious trouble. I found this on his person."

Marach was shown the psychic paper and he looked at it in disdain before looking the man in the leather jacket, black jumper, pants and shoes over in disdain. Although he had never met him before, Marach knew exactly who he was and more importantly, the kind of man he was too.

"Oh, joy, the Doctor and his little Earth urchin," Marach said with pure disdain in his voice. "I suppose you've seen what it's Sector 3 of this ship."

"What's in Sector 3?" Rose found herself asking. Both she and the Doctor had actually split up in order to investigate the ship upon landing and the Doctor had been a little vague about what they were doing on the vessel in the first place.

"Mind your own business, child," Marach snarled as he gripped Rose tighter before slamming her into a wall. The very action forced his comrade to hold on tighter to the Doctor, who wasn't best pleased with the treatment of his companion.

"Don't you touch her!" the Doctor snapped in anger. "You can't have those items. They're a part of Earth history. They're not yours to keep."

"They're mine now," Marach smiled and when he did, hew revealed some rather sharp but blackened teeth. "And it seems you two are as well. Lock him up in one of the holding cells down the hall, Basril while I'll deal with the girl."

"I mean it, don't you da-," the Doctor managed to say before Basril twisted his arm and dragged him down the hall.

"And gag him as well," Marach called out as he glared at Rose, before pushing her to walk ahead of him. "I can't be doing with a noisy passenger and if you have any sense, child, you'll keep quiet as well."

Rose looked at the alien with contempt but she did what she was told for the time being. In the back of her mind though, she also knew that the first chance she had to get one over on this Marach guy, she was going to take it though.

River Song liked to think that unlike her significant other, her timing was always and completely spot on. It had been several months since she had last seen him and she had hoped that he had taken her advice about not travelling alone. Even if he hadn't, River was going to make sure that for a couple of days, he wouldn't be on his own.

"Hello Sweetie," River said as she found that instead of landing in the TARDIS, she had managed to land inside a spaceship where the TARDIS currently seemed to be parked. "Okay, he didn't see that. Best go inside."

River headed inside the machine and when she did, she had been in for something of a shock. The inside of the TARDIS had been coral instead of the orange she had been used to and the glass floor she had also been used to was instead something a lot harder and less see through as well.

"I'm early," River murmured to herself, as she decided to take a wander outside of the machine. "Now how early though?"

River whipped out a scanner of her own and decided to see where on this ship her beloved was as well as trying to figure what incarnation he was in too. For once, River wondered if she was going to be surprised.

"This isn't going to hold -," the Doctor had managed to get out before he was gagged, blindfolded and chained to a wall in a dingy cell.

"Oh shut up, Time Lord," Basril hissed with annoyance. "Or that girlfriend of yours gets it."

Basril didn't give the Doctor time to answer as he slammed the door behind him, leaving the captive Time Lord to his thoughts but neither did he expect another woman to come up from behind him and plant a kiss on his lips either.

"Hello there," River smiled sweetly as she wiped the tiniest bit of lipstick that was smeared on Basril's mouth. "Mind letting me in?"

"Of course," Basril stuttered nervously, clearly smitten with the woman with bouncing strawberry blonde locks as he noticed that she was wearing a light green evening dress. Immediately he opened the cell door for her. "Who could refuse such a beautiful thing as yourself?"

"Who indeed," River smirked as she noticed a certain someone in a rather uncomfortable situation. He was familiar to her in one way but in another way, he was also a complete stranger. "Bless, you really do get yourself in all sorts of trouble when I'm not around, don't you?"

"Who's there?" the Doctor muffled before River removed his gag and undid his blindfold. "And you are?"

"A good fairy," River smiled as she slipped her hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. "Always a good tool to have in a cell."

"Mine," the Doctor said as River undid his restraints and she handed it back to him. "You still haven't answered my question."

"And I'm not going to either," River smiled as she motioned for the door. "If I'm correct, you're probably travelling with a young woman named Rose Tyler and because she doesn't appear to be in here with you, I'm going to assume she's somewhere else on this ship. I'd be right, wouldn't I, Doctor?"

"Yes, you would," the Doctor said as he made it obvious that he seemed uneasy around River. She could see in his eyes that he was doing his best to work out several things about her but this was not the time for him to succeed. "Now how could you know that?"

"I'm sorry for the next thing I'm about to do but it really is for your own good," River said in a soft voice as she began to adjust her lipstick.

"What good?" the Doctor managed to get out before River planted an almighty smacker on his lips. "Oh, why did you do that?"

"Look at me, Doctor, because I'm about to do something that I really don't like but is necessary, okay?" River stroked his face tenderly. She had never used hallucinogenic lipstick on him before and felt a pang of guilt for doing it now. "You're going to forget you ever saw me here, okay?"

"Why would I forget you?" the Doctor said, his voice dazed but he looked at River in a way a future version would look at him without the need of a certain lipstick. "I don't even know who you are."

"Good, and you won't remember seeing me here either," River smiled as she pulled away from him. "You're going to go and rescue Rose Tyler, hand over these smugglers to the Shadow Proclamation and give the crown jewels back to their rightful owner and then both you and Rose are going to get into that rackety box of yours and go everywhere. And I'm gonna see you one day when you least expect it. Do you understand, my love?"

"Yes," the Doctor smiled at her, before River stunned Basril with her gun and disappeared before his eyes. He blinked for a moment and then noticed that his assailant was on the ground and unconscious. "Now how did I get out of these?"

The Doctor noticed that he wasn't in restraints any more and stepped outside of the cell, locking Basril. He didn't know what had just happened to him but he knew one thing – it was time to find Rose and fast.

"You really think you're going to get away with this?" Rose folded her arms in annoyance. She hadn't been tied up but Marach instead placed an electronic tag on her ankle that would ensure she didn't try anything on him. "The Doctor -,"

"- Is rather indisposed at the moment, Miss Tyler," Marach said in a stern tone, trying his best to concentrate on co-ordinates and not let his human prisoner get the better of him. "He's no threat to me, especially not with you to help him anyways."

"You think I'm a threat?" Rose raised her eyebrows, amused at the idea of a tough looking space criminal such as Marach finding her to be threatening. "I'm flattered. You should meet my mum though. Then you'd really know what a threat is."

"Don't flatter yourself, you silly little girl," Marach hissed at her, refusing to make eye contact. "Alone right now, you're not a threat. With that man, oh yes, sadly, from what I've read about his MO. Keeping you both seperate before selling you off as slaves and neither of you are a problem."

"Slaves?" Rose asked, only her voice was tinged with anger and disgust. "Oh, no you don't."

"Sorry, dear, but I don't think you get much of a say in the matter," Marach smiled as he noticed that some familiar looking spaceship were now surrounding his vessel. "What the devil's going on?"

"Looks like you're surrounded," Rose smiled as she could see the ships locking onto Marach's one. "Which can only mean -,"

"- I got out," the Doctor smiled as he pointed his sonic screwdriver. Marach's first instinct was to grab his gun but the screwdriver reduced into parts before he could even grab. "I don't think so."

"You think you've won, Time Lord," Marach snarled nastily before turning to Rose as he produced a device. "I can still do this -,"

"Oh, no you don't," Rose said furiously, picking up the first thing she could find and using it to smack Marach straight in the face knocking him out. She quickly grabbed the device off the alien before the Doctor undid her ankle tag. "You took your time."

"In case you didn't recall, I was a bit tied up," the Doctor smiled as a group of military soldiers boarded the spaceship and looked at the Doctor and Rose. "He's in there. Not much of a talkative mood though. Blimey, you know how to strike. Remind me not to get your bad side, Rose Tyler."

"Okay then," Rose smiled as she noticed that the Doctor was heading towards the TARDIS. "Um, shouldn't we go and get what they stole back?"

"Already have. The crown jewels are in their rightful place and time," the Doctor smiled as he opened the door of his ship.

"Just like that?" Rose raised an eyebrow. Something about the Doctor seemed a little off but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"I might have had some help," the Doctor replied, scratching his head as though he was trying to remember something. "Though I'm not."

"Not sure?" Rose asked as she stepped halfway inside before noticing something on his lips. They looked much redder than usual. In fact, Rose saw the hint of lipstick and gave the Doctor a rather dubious look before laughing slightly. "Something you'd like to tell me?"

"What?" The Doctor looked at Rose, genuinely clueless before she smudged some of the lipstick from his lips with her finger and showed him. Even then, he appeared genuinely at a loss. "No clue."

"How can you not know when someone's kissed you?" Rose seemed confused as the Doctor ushered her inside the vessel. He looked around a bit outside but saw no-one. "Who else was here?"

"Don't know, but whoever they were, they're not here now," the Doctor smiled as he closed the doors of the TARDIS. "Let's go, Rose Tyler."

As the TARDIS began to dematerialise, a woman stepped out of the shadows. The Doctor had been wrong about her not being here. River Song had never left the ship. She had made sure that Basril hadn't gotten out of his cell and had been watching as the Doctor had gotten the crown jewels back to their rightful place before watching him rescue Rose and outsmart Marach. A part of her had wanted to go up to the both of them and properly introduce herself but she knew she couldn't – not to this version.

The idea of meeting an earlier version of the man she had fallen in love with hadn't bothered her but at the same time, she knew she couldn't risk him looking for her earlier in his own time stream and risking any memory they'd share together. Sometimes, even a time traveller had to take the slow path. However as River finally decided to take her leave off the ship, she could hear a familiar whirring noise.

"Oh, dear," River murmured to herself as she watched herself being transported inside the TARDIS but it wasn't the only she had been accustomed to or even the one she briefly stepped inside not so long ago. "Which version am I meeting now?"

The TARDIS River had been transported inside was a mixtures of blue and green lighting, some whites and greys and even Gallifreyan writing that she hadn't seen in a long time and then she turned around to see a very familiar face to her, though in a get up that seemed different to the last time she had seen him.

"Something you'd like to tell me?" the Doctor asked River, folding his arms. She could tell from the look on his face that he now remembered their previous meeting.

"It was only a kiss," River smirked as she eyed both the inside of the TARDIS and the Doctor. "You've decorated – twice! Might take some getting used to."

"I'm sure you'll adapt," the Doctor smirked as he held out a hand for River to hold. "Now where would you like to go?"

"Surprise me," River smiled and with that, the Doctor set the co-ordinates for a place he knew both of them would enjoy.

- The End -


End file.
